I just returned from a tsunami of travel. Traveling for business is rare for me – which is one of the reasons I chose this profession – as most of my clients are within a short car ride.

October is the exception as this time of year is conference season. Most commercial real estate companies host their annual meetings in the fall and generally all of our professional organizations – SIOR, CCIM, ICSC, CORENet, etc. follow suit. So after six flights, eight Uber rides, and dozens of “what market do you serve?” – today is a recap of my takeaways.Our industry hasn’t changed – EVER. Largely dominated by old grey haired white guys – we have been slow to adopt new technology and hire women and minorities. I did notice more women and youth in our gatherings – which is awesome. Our European affiliate even noted “most global corporations are looking for diversity when granting assignments.” It’s stunning to me how few of us capitalize on the cool techno tools available to us these days, however. Most still don’t employ a CRM such as SalesForce to track our activity.

Most professionals miss an opportunity. To travel many miles only to hang out with folks from your local office makes little sense to me. Sure. I get it. There is familiarity there. But seriously. Stretch your boundaries. Make new contacts. Put it out there. How else do we learn new “best practices” and build new relationships?

A slowdown is coming. The elephant in the room was the potential softening of the commercial real estate market. We’ve all greatly benefited from a solid ten year run. We know a dip is imminent – we just don’t know when. Most I spoke with believe we will sense a slowdown late in 2019 or early in 2020.

Networking is a contact sport.You gotta press the flesh. I met people from all over the US, Canada, and the UK. My network expanded exponentially. Follow up is critical – thanking and then staying connected. I use old fashioned thank you notes plus an occasional article, email, and call to remain top of mind.

How did we survive before Uber?I am astonished by how this start-up has revolutionized travel. Walk off the plane, quick schlep to the “smart phone app ride area” – yes – airports have them now, whip out your device, boom. You’re off. No more creepy cab rides, endless rental car lines, or expensive long term parking. I’ve even started Ubering to meetings in LA. I get a couple of hours to dial the phone or answer emails. Amazing.

Is Blockchain our disruptor?I listened curiously as one of our keynotes explained blockchain technology. Simply, blockchain is a summary of transactions – the block – linked to numerous de-centralized computers – the chain. Allowed is a seamless exchange of business between parties. Underlying the crypto-currency – such as bitcoin – is blockchain technology.

So, if your industry has a data set of deals – procurement, logistics, yep – commercial real estate leases or sales – your role of middleman could be vulnerable. I’ve not retired my license just yet – but I wonder where I’ll return my Kenmore tools?

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services. He can be reached at 714.564.7104 or [email protected] his website is allencbuchanan.com

Allen has been a distinguished voice in the cre social media and technology community since he started his blog in 2010. Allen’s posts are published weekly in the Sunday Real Estate Section of the Orange County Register. Allen is the creator of the popular YouTube video series Tuesday Traffic Tips. Allen has been named to the prestigious Top Ten On-Line CRE Professionals List for the past 3 years.

DNA of #CRE Survey

It is with bubbling excitement and fanfare that we are thrilled to announce the 4th anniversary (OMG 4 years have gone by!) of the amazing collaboration between Buildout and theBrokerList to produce the 2018 #DNAofCRE Survey. Remember, we are saying 2018 because we are asking you to download your brain and tell us what you did last year!

485 Respondents for DNA of #CRE Survey! Yes, you heard right, almost 500 commercial real estate professionals contributed to the 2017 DNA of #CRE Survey this year! That is an increase of 60% over last year! This year was so special because we had so much enthusiasm as a result of this being our 3rd year. […]

Just an Idea The idea of the DNA of #CRE survey began as a collaboration between Buildout and theBrokerList teams. We all wanted to know more about the people who make up the commercial real estate brokerage industry because it has been such a hard to understand facet of real estate. Generally people think of […]

Yes, it is true, we completed the first, official tabulation of the 2015 DNA of #CRE Survey! Please review and digest this historic attempt to obtain the actual DNA of the commercial real estate brokerage industry. Huge thanks to the team at Buildout for the amazing collaboration. It was our first one, so we are […]